National Affairs: Cons at Cards

The scene, for anybody who has indulged in Nevada's favorite public pastime, was familiar. The room was quiet except for the snap of cards, the clack of poker chips and murmuring of the players. At nine tables, the gamblers played stud, low ball, twenty-one or panguingui. The cards were dealt, the winners raked in the pots. Then, at 3:20 p.m., a bugle blew, and all the players got up and went back to their cells. Gambling at Nevada's State Prison in Carson City was closed for the day.

There is scarcely a prison in the world where inmates do not gamble on the sly. But at Nevada's prison, gambling—just as in Reno and Las Vegas—is strictly legal. The reason, say prison officials, is based on realism. "I don't approve of gambling personally," says Art Bernard, who was Nevada State Prison warden until last spring. "But I am a great believer in facing facts. Making it legitimate for the prisoners gives you a control over it that you wouldn't have otherwise. It gives them something to do; if they have to walk the yard when they are not working, they get nervous. That's when you start having trouble."

Happily, the prison has never had any trouble with the gamblers. For one thing, only card games are permitted, and only cons with records of good behavior can be appointed dealers. They "buy" a table for 75 cents a week, split the take with the prison, which uses its share for the recreation fund and for the purchase of eyeglasses for needy inmates. Players draw "brass" (scrip) from their personal accounts (maximum $20 a week), never handle real cash, since an accumulation of "street money" might give a prisoner big ideas about escaping. Gambling hours in the small, dim, rock-walled "casino" are carefully regulated.

Although Warden Jack Fogliani, the prison's new boss, has decreased the amount of gambling by putting more prisoners out in the open air on work details, the card tables are still busy. The convicts themselves are responsible for keeping the games clean. Says one: "The inmates control the gambling. They watch out and keep the trouble down, because they don't want to lose this privilege. Listen, most of these guys know all about cheating; they could outcheat anybody. So there isn't any. They ride herd on it." Adds he: "This is probably the most honest gambling casino there is anywhere."